Optical Express

The consultation staff in Leicester were helpful, and the Optometrist Pretti Khakhar was very thorough and professional. When I arrived at the clinic in Nottingham for surgery the staff seemed to be doing nothing whilst I had a 2 hour wait ? not knowing what I was waiting for, just sat wit other patients. However once the scans had been completed and I had gone up to theatre, the theatre staff and nurses were very helpful. The gentleman that gave me all the medication advice (and held my hands throughout surgery) was fantastic!! Very good at his job and made me feel comfortable. The Surgeon was very 'straight laced' and told me to the point, however again very quick and re-assuring. He talked general chit-chat throughout all of the 8-10 mins I was in the chair !! Leicester aftercare staff and again Pretti, were honest and truthful throughout. Pain & Recovery: Not one bit of pain throughout the operation itself. First 24 Hrs was uncomfortable as I couldn't open my eyes due to the running and almost like a constant hard wind in my eyes. 24 check at Leicester the staff were honest and advised it will get worse! Mortified!!! The next 48 hours was the worst, burning, irritable and I constantly had to use the numbing drops given. I was climbing the walls. However no sooner was it so bad, it just gradually throughout the day eased off, and then the next day (day 4) no pain at all. A little dry and blurry, but this was expected. Now it is almost 4 weeks on and I have 'better than' 20/20 vision, no blur and no pain!! I work as a VDU operator, I had he op on the Thursday and returned to work on the following Tuesday. Struggled a little with focus but within a couple of days this got better. Still having my regular checks at Leicester and up to now, the clinic has been fab. Hope this continues. A little bit concerned as people say they may deteriorate again, but this is the chance I have to take. But for now I will enjoy having perfect vision !!!

Would recommend surgery to everyone, really impressed with the results.

Then told I could have another type of treatment,but they would be unable to carry out the new process until another date, which I felt was another type of hard selling to get more money out of me. Then bells started ringing were they just after my money. Thats when the whole process became a nightmare for me.When I asked why the last minute change i was told this would be down to the surgeon, and they could not comment.

Had consultation early August. Told my prescription was very high because of my astigmatism so they could not guarantee results. Also warned me there was a 5% chance that after surgery I would not be able to drive even WITH new glasses/contacts. Who's going to take that risk? After consultation I was passed to a so called "counsellor" who was supposed to talk through the issues with me but she just said "well, you're not having the treatment, bye" or words to that effect.

had LASIK done at London clinic in march 2002 but it looks like I will need an enhancement doing. I had no problem with the procedure. It was painless and staff were very good. on my 6 month check was told there is still slight short sightedness in my left eye. I cannot read small print on the TV and am experiencing problems reading the illuminated signs when using the tube. cant read the destination till I get near it. I hope follow -up treatment corrects this. will post back later to let everyone know.

My contact lense company was Optical Express in London. They’d always been very good at giving me lenses, and I’d been impressed at the ease with which I could get appointments, the way they gave my eyes very thorough checks every few months, and the free biscuits. This, then, surely, would be the perfect company with which to entrust my sight? Er, well not quite. Whilst I can state with pleasure that the surgery was performed very competently, the same cannot be said for the associated admin. Which is odd, as you’d think the admin would be the easier of the two to get right. But after my initial suitability check (a procedure that widens your pupils and so leaves you looking like a bush baby for a few hours) I phoned to see if I would be suitable for Wavefront, which gives you vision like superman. Someone said they’d call me back. They didn’t. I phoned again. No answer. And again. And again. And (can you believe it?) again. Eventually, I was very horrible indeed to someone slightly less stupid than all the others, and was finally told that I wasn’t suitable, as my pupils were too small. You have to have the surgery within three months of the initial consultation, and the three months were almost up. In a moment of impulse, the like of which I’ve never before experienced, I told slightly-less-stupid that I would like the surgery I could have, LASIK, and was booked in for the end of May. The surgery was deeply unpleasant, without being in any way painful. I was given a tablet to sedate me, which didn’t work. I was checked over a final time, and had a quick consultation with the surgeon, Dr Jain, who went over the risks again, and then dismissed me. I felt he was a bit quick, and I didn't feel reassured having seen him - I'd have liked him to have been a bit more caring, but hey ho. I had to write out the phrase “I understand that my vision may be worse as a result of this surgery.” I went all shaky. The waiting room is full of cards that say things like “I can see I can see!” and “Thank you so much.” Many of the cards had cats on them, presumably confirming the cat’s status as an animal with very good eyesight. (And who, therefore, would never need LASIK.) The surgery itself was very quick. I went into a dark room with lots of masked people in it and sat under a machine. Dr Jain taped my eye lashes back (OK), covered one eye (FINE), dropped anaesthetic into the other eye (I AM DEALING WITH ALL THIS REMARKABLY WELL) and then inserted a plastic ring into my eye (OH GOD STOP IT LEAVE MY EYE ALONE). A nurse said “Suction on” and it went suck, and everything went black (THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD I’LL NOT WANT…). I was told to look at the red light and he made the first cut, which I didn’t feel, and then the front of my eye was peeled back. This is conceptually hideous, but is not painful, and so a bit of a relief after the hieronymus bosch-style horror of the suction. The red light in front of me looked all blurry. A nurse said “45 seconds laser” and then it made a toc-toc noise and Dr Jain did the deed. I’d read that you can smell burning flesh for this bit. I breathed through my mouth, and so cannot confirm whether or not this is true; although it is clear from my behavior that I am very sensible, as well as brave. The lasering stopped after 45 seconds (the nurse was counting down –for my benefit? I shall never know) and the whole process was repeated with the other eye. I was very brave all over again. Then it was all over. I gave the nice nurse her hand back and was lead, shaking and a bit teary (question – do people ever cry after LASIK? And if they do, does it wash the fronts of their eyes off?) and was lead to the waiting room. Then followed the gift of a small green bag filled with eye drops and masking tape and a scary bus ride home. I lay with my eyes shut for two hours, as they hurt (it was like getting suncream in them) and then opened them to see a glorious new world… Immediately after surgery my eyes were screaming “Keep us shut! Something is not right!” However when I forced them open for a few seconds to negotiate roads I could see that my vision had already improved enormously, although it was very blurred, I couldn’t focus and light hurt. After a few hours with my eyes shut my vision had cleared and I was staggering round the flat looking at things. My vision was still blurred for anything at a distance of greater than a metre but close up was already great. The next morning was glorious. Despite gunky eyes from all the drops, my vision was awfully good. The next day check up confirmed that my vision was already driving standard, with my left eye slightly better than the right. I reckon it has improved even further since then, although day-by day in week 1 my vision would shift in each eye. This gave me headaches, and the constant desire to shut one eye and peer at something, and then peer with the other one to see which was better. But, of course, its wonderful. I get a little thrill every time I remember – I don’t need glasses any more. A little coda on the continued communication brilliance of Optical Express. On the Tuesday morning after surgery I woke up to find the vision in my right eye was extremely blurred. I panicked, and then did the most reasonable thing at 7.30am and went back to sleep. At 9.00am everything seemed OK again. I rang Optical Express to see whether I should be worried and was told someone would call me back. Did they? Did they f*** ! So well done on the treatment, Optical Express, but your customer care needs serious work.

I had bilateral wavefront lasek on 16/12/04. My prescription was -5.25r & -5.00L. One month on & my eye sight is 20/20+. My consultation was at The Strand Clinic, the staff were very helpful & my examination was very thorough. However due to an admin error they cost me two work days. They had booked me in for Lasik instead of Lasek after I had booked time off from work. The operation was at the Shaftbury clinic by Dr Luca Ilari. He & his team were extremely professional & explained every thing in detail pre & post surgery. 5*'s to Dr Ilari & his surgical team.

Having had surgery at Optical Express in Newcastle and having read alot of the feedback both before and after it would be amiss of me not to comment. I had LASEK surgery over 2 weeks ago to correct my vision which was -6.25 in both eyes. I have experienced really dry eyes since - even though I'm constantly putting drops in and am now using a thicker gel solution. I needed a week off work and my vision over about 20 feet is still very blurry and not good enough to drive. I have not seen any feedback from people who didnt get almost instant vision back so I thought I ought to add my comments. Despite this the staff have been really good and very flexible in making last minute appointments for re-assurance that my eyes are healing.

I had lasek wavefront on 14th feb at Birmingham. When I got there I was told they didn't have me booked in. They did have my notes but Meadowhall hadn't bothered to phone through to book an appointment, not a good start. The team at Birmingham were great though as they fit me in anyway and were fantastic throughout the treatment. The first 12 hours I was fine felt quite comfortable and could see quite well but in the middle of the night my eyes started streaming and felt painful, I continued putting in the drops but they didn't help. Spent the most of the following day in bed in pain trying to sleep but couldn't open my eyes. After another sleepless night I telephoned Birmingham asking for help they made me an appointment at meadowhall. When I got to meadowhall the optomotrist told me the lenses were stuck to my eyes but he would try to remove them. When he took them out my eyes felt sore and gritty but not as painful, I was then sent home with no lenses in even though it was only 2 days since surgery. That evening the pain was unbelievable every time I put the drops in my eyes burned. I have two kids but giving birth was a breeze compared to the pain I was feeling by now. The next morning I couldn't open my eyes and I was in agony I telephoned Birmingham and was told I was probably sensative to the drops and needed the preservative free ones so my husband went straight out to get some as Meadowhall didn't stock them! The new drops did not help at all so I once again rang Birmingham who told me that meadowhall don't have anyone qualified working there on fridays and could I go to Birmingham (2 hours away). I asked if nottingham could see me and managed to get an appointment there. I saw a wonderful lady called Neetal she put me at ease as I was in a real state of panic by the time I got there. After getting a second opinion she cleaned my eyes up and informed me that I should have had new lenses put in immediately and because the lenses were not replaced my epithelium had come loose and was 'flapping all over my eye'. Not only had meadowhall caused me a lot of pain it turned out they had neglected to put any of this in my notes so as far as nottingham were aware my notes said my origional lenses were still in. Neetal told me the damage was repairable and the other optomotrist was going to have a word with meadowhall as he was disgusted about the ommisions in my notes. After putting new lenses in I was told I would need to have them removed in 4 days time. I asked Neetal if I could have all my aftercare with her at Nottingham because I did not want anyone at meadowhall coming near my eyes again. I have since had 2 more appointments at nottingham and neetal says my eyes are healing suprisingly well considering. I have very good vision now but suffer with quite bad dry eyes. When you spend the best part of two thousand pounds you expect better service than I received from meadowhall. I can recemmend the treatment but I wouldn't advise anyone to have the consultation or aftercare at meadowhall.

It has been 7 weeks since i had lasek wavefront at birmingham. On recent check-up been told left eye is still -0.25 this may not sound a lot but when the other eye is perfect it is really annoying. starting to worry now that the left eye wont catch up with the right. I know it can take 3-6 months but if anyone has had similar experience please e-mail me and let me know. thanks